Man claims school officials broke laws with tax hike vote

Wednesday , September 13, 2017 - 1:39 PM

VERNAL, Utah (AP) — A Utah man is suing Uintah County School District and its school board, alleging they failed to give proper public notice and gather comment before approving the district’s 2017-18 budget.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2fjhIgp ) James Drollinger filed a complaint Friday, asserting the district violated Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act on several counts and seeking to nullify its June 20 budget approval.

The budget approval included a $3.5 million tax increase.

Attempts by The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday to contact Drollinger through his attorneys in the case were not immediately successful.

District Superintendent Mark Dockins said Tuesday he could not comment on the lawsuit’s claims with the litigation pending, but he defended the district’s adherence to open-meetings laws.